Public troubled by deep state

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  • #84289
    wv
    Participant

    Fwiw.

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    deep state poll:https://www.monmouth.edu/polling-institute/reports/monmouthpoll_us_031918/

    Public Troubled by ‘Deep State’
    Monday, March 19, 2018

    Bi-partisan concern that government is tracking U.S. citizens

    West Long Branch, NJ – A majority of the American public believe that the U.S. government engages in widespread monitoring of its own citizens and worry that the U.S. government could be invading their own privacy. The Monmouth University Poll also finds a large bipartisan majority who feel that national policy is being manipulated or directed by a “Deep State” of unelected government officials. Americans of color on the center and left and NRA members on the right are among those most worried about the reach of government prying into average citizens’ lives.

    Just over half of the public is either very worried (23%) or somewhat worried (30%) about the U.S. government monitoring their activities and invading their privacy. There are no significant partisan differences – 57% of independents, 51% of Republicans, and 50% of Democrats are at least somewhat worried the federal government is monitoring their activities. Another 24% of the American public are not too worried and 22% are not at all worried.

    Fully 8-in-10 believe that the U.S. government currently monitors or spies on the activities of American citizens, including a majority (53%) who say this activity is widespread and another 29% who say such monitoring happens but is not widespread. Just 14% say this monitoring does not happen at all. There are no substantial partisan differences in these results.

    “This is a worrisome finding. The strength of our government relies on public faith in protecting our freedoms, which is not particularly robust. And it’s not a Democratic or Republican issue. These concerns span the political spectrum,” said Patrick Murray, director of the independent Monmouth University Polling Institute… see link
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    RT:https://www.rt.com/usa/421756-americans-fear-surveillance-deep-state/

    Over 70 percent of US citizens in the Republican and Democratic parties believe America is controlled by a “deep state” of unelected government officials, according to a new poll. They also fear state surveillance, it reveals.

    Although most Americans interviewed are not familiar with the term ‘deep state’, when they heard the definition as a cadre of unelected government and military officials who secretly influence government policies, a majority expressed belief in its ‘probable existence’ according to the Monmouth University poll released Monday.

    Additionally six in 10 of those polled think that these unelected government figures wield too much power when it comes to shaping federal polic…see link

    #84306
    PA Ram
    Participant

    Oh, I think they probably monitor American citizens to some degree or another but I don’t think there is a guy reporting into headquarters on what cereal I ate this morning(for the record it was Rice Krispies).

    I don’t believe in a so-called deep state conspiracy.

    I don’t believe in the the Illuminati. I don’t believe in the Trilateral Commission. I don’t believe in UFOs or Reptilian people.

    But this country is nuts.

    They DO believe these things. It’s what makes us unique in the world.

    Yes–other countries populations believe some of these things as well–but not close to the extent that we do.

    We make Alex Jones and Glen Beck millionaires.

    We are running away from the age of enlightenment as fast as we can. We have alternative facts, creationist science, end times prophets and a whole lot more.

    This is the country of PT Barnum.

    We seek out fantasy. It’s one of the reasons the settlers came here–for gold and religion.

    It’s who we are as a nation.

    I don’t see it changing anytime soon.

    "Reality is that which, when you stop believing in it, doesn't go away. " Philip K. Dick

    #84314
    wv
    Participant

    Oh, I think they probably monitor American citizens to some degree or another but I don’t think there is a guy reporting into headquarters on what cereal I ate this morning(for the record it was Rice Krispies).

    I don’t believe in a so-called deep state conspiracy.

    I don’t believe in the the Illuminati. I don’t believe in the Trilateral Commission. I don’t believe in UFOs or Reptilian people.

    But this country is nuts.

    They DO believe these things. It’s what makes us unique in the world.

    Yes–other countries populations believe some of these things as well–but not close to the extent that we do.

    We make Alex Jones and Glen Beck millionaires.

    We are running away from the age of enlightenment as fast as we can. We have alternative facts, creationist science, end times prophets and a whole lot more.

    This is the country of PT Barnum.

    We seek out fantasy. It’s one of the reasons the settlers came here–for gold and religion.

    It’s who we are as a nation.

    I don’t see it changing anytime soon.

    ==============

    Well i believe in the ‘deep state’ but i dont believe in a ‘deep state conspiracy’.

    For me, deep state is almost a synonym for Corportocracy or Putocracy or Oligarchy. For me it has the same meaning as it has for Bill Moyers. I’ve posted his description before, so i wont do it again.

    Alex Jones and his wacko-fans have a different take on the ‘deep state’. It overlaps the Bill Moyers view some but Jones adds in a lot of paranoia and conspiracy stuff.

    So we got different people using the term differently. I dont think anyone will confuse Moyers with Alex Jones, though.

    PS — for me the ‘monitoring of citizens’ aspect of all this is the least important. I dont get all upset about the spying. I get upset about the destruction and annihilation of poor people, and the destruction of the biosphere..

    w
    v

    #84319
    Billy_T
    Participant

    Unfortunately, and primarily because of Trump and his media fluffers, the viewpoint taking hold isn’t the logical one, the one perhaps first formulated by C. Wright Mills as the Power Elite back in the 1950s. It’s the Alex Jones view. That’s why the polling numbers have ticked up so much recently.

    And I find that change interesting but highly dangerous, too. Many of the most fervent believers on the right in the “deep state” idea not so long ago were true believers in its necessity. They were Bush fanboys, who took every criticism of the “Law and Order” state, including the Surveillance State, as “anti-American” and/or treasonous. It’s only now, because their guy Trump has painted himself as a victim that they did a 180. But even that 180 is incredibly selective.

    None of these people are against the “deep state” in the way it’s seen by the left. They’re only against the part they see as in a conspiracy to bring down Trump. And they view that as all Dem, all left-wing, even “socialist.” They don’t see the GOP as involved, or conservatives, or right-wingers. Their “deep state” is “far left” with one major aim:

    destroy Trump.

    I’ve never seen one iota of a discussion from them about the need to clean any of this up across the board — regardless of party — or to put in democratic checks to restrain the powerful. Not one iota of it is directed at the powerful crushing the powerless. It’s all about Trump and his supposed victimhood. They would be just fine if Trump controlled the “deep state” and used it to consolidate his own power, etc. They’d be perfectly fine if he expanded its grip, just as long as he controlled all the levers of the machine.

    This won’t end well.

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